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| Gearing up for nominations: MEC Commissioners Dr Nakanga (2nd left seated) and Mrs Chingota captured with MEC staff and Constituency Returning Officers (CROs) from Balaka and Machinga soon after opening of orientation workshop on Wednesday. |
As preparations for the May 20
Tripartite Elections intensify, the Malawi Electoral Commission has scheduled
nationwide trainings on nomination process for Constituency Returning Officers
(CROs).
The CROs will manage the
nomination process at the constituency level whereby they will be responsible
for receiving nomination papers from parliamentary and local government
elections.
For the first time, the
Commission has to conduct interviews, whose candidates were Primary Education
Advisors, to identify suitably qualified CROs.
Speaking in Balaka when he
opened the orientation workshop for CROs from Machinga and Balaka district
councils on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 Commissioner Dr Wellington Nakanga urged
the participants to be neutral and impartial in their work.
“Whatever you will do as
Constituency Returning Officer, will not reflect on you, but it will be the
image and integrity of the Commission that will be at stake”.
“If you will conduct yourselves
professionally, the public will praise the Commission of being professional. If
you discharge your duties in a partisan way, taking political sides,
un-leveling the playing field and indulging in all that sort of behavior not
condoned by the Commission, it will also be the image and integrity of the
Commission that will be at stake. The Commission will not condone this,” he
said.
Dr Nakanga emphasized that the Commission
was determined to deliver a credible election and would not tolerate anyone to
sabotage the process.
“Be informed that the
Commission will not hesitate to nip that in the bud any behaviours or acts that
would affect its integrity. We are coming from registration exercise which has
been successful and we will not accept to fail on nominations,” he warned.
The Commissioner cautioned the
CROs that there was no room for experimenting, rehearsing or asking for second
chances and they had to just get everything right the first time as they
discharge their duties.
The Commissioner said for 2014
elections the aspirants will deposit their nomination fees with any branch of
the Malawi Savings Bank and attach the deposit slip to the nomination papers.
The Commission has planned to
start issuing nomination papers from January, 2014 and will receive them back
from 10 to 14 February 2014.
Similar training took place in
Chikhwawa, Mulanje, Lilongwe, Salima, Mzimba and Chitipa and were presided over
by MEC Commissioners.
